Electric third rail



A. K. H. BJORGE.

ELECTRIC THIRD RAIL APPLICATION FILED DEC. 17, 1919.

1,3 8,0 PatentedAug. 16,1921.

5 mum W07 UNITED srarss arrest; caries.

ARNE KRISTIAN' I-IILIBERG BJORGE, on ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA,

ELECTRIC THIRD 'RAIL.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

7 Beit known that 1, Anne BERG BJoReE, a citizen of Norway, residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certa n new and useful Improvements in Electric Third Rails, of which the following 18 a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in electric feed conductors or third rails for electric railways and the'invention, has for its object to provide a third railstructure affording a maximum degree of safety and protection produced by local energization of successive sections of the rail during travel of the car. Y

Another objectis the provision of a third rail of the inverted type which is supported for vertical movement, being automaticallyelevated by the car carried contact shoe and,

when soelevated, being engaged bya feed construction, combination and arrangement 7 of parts which will be more fully described in the following specification and then finally pointed out in the claims hereunto appended. Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the improved third rail, a portion of the guard or housing being removed. 1

Fig. 2 represents a transverse sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. l, and

Fig. 3 represents a transverse sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1. p r I Referring to the drawing in detail,.wherein similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts. throughout the several views, the numerals 5 indicate the opposed side members of the rail housing or guard which are arranged in spaced parallel relation and are connected by the coverstrip 6. As usual, the guard is constructed of wood or other nonconducting material and according to the present invention is provided with a plurality of uniformly spaced supporting members 7 secured between the side walls 5 of Specification of Letters remit. Patented Aug. 16:, 11 521. Application filed December 1'7, 1919. Serial No. 345,668., 7

r r he guard midway the topand bottom edges KnisrrAN HrL- thereof. Insulators 8 are arranged in the guardv 5 intermediate andabove the supports h 1 z and receive and support the horizontally extending feed conductor 9 which is supplied with current from the source of supply. The third rail 10 which, as usual, is constructed of conductingmaterial is arranged underneath the guard5 and is movable upwardly therein incident to contact of the contact shoe of the railway car therewith; A supporting strip 11 is secured at intervals by rivets or suitable fastening devices 12 to the rail 10 and the material of the strip lying intermediate the. fastening members 12 is bent upwardly to provide substantially inverted U-shaped supporting members 13 positioned over and supported by the members P 7 of the guard. In its normal position, the rail 10 is disposed-slightly below the lower edges of the guard 5, the web portions of the U-shaped members 13 resting upon the sup-.

porting members 7 so that whenthe rail is engaged and elevated by contact with the shoe of the car, enough of the rail is exposed to form an electrical connection with the car shoe, Incident to the vertical movement of therail the web portions of the U-shaped members 13 are brought into: contact with theconductor 9 forming an electrical connection therewith and supplying current to the rail 10. To insure an eficient electrical connection between the U-shaped members 13 and the conductor 9 the web portions of said members 13 are preferably curved transversely so as to conform with the contour of the conductor 9 and, as will be understood,

the rail 10 possesses a sufficient degree of resiliency to permit flexure thereof such as necessarily is incident .to the elevation of each set of strips 11 successively by contact with the contact shoe of the car therewith.

The rail 10 is formed in a plurality of sections and although comparatively short lengths of the rail sections are shown in the drawing, it will be understood that the latter may be of desired length and thesevand only one rail in the third rail track is energized at a time.

At road crossings or other third rail terminals, a relatively thin rail strip 17 is rigidly secured to the extremity of the main rail 10 and is provided with a curved terminal 18 secured under the cover strip 6, the exposed portion of the rail section 17 being disposed at an inclination to gradually contact with the shoe of the car as the latter approaches or moves away from the rail, the rail section 17 being constructed of spring metal, as will be understood, so as to afford the requisite degree of resiliency.

r The adjacent wall portion of the guard 5 is preferably to be lined with metal, (not shown) to eliminate possibility of fire resulting from sparks produced by the making and breaking of the electric circuit, between the contact. faces of the strip 11 and the opposed faces of the rail 9.

lVhat I claim is: p

1. A device of the character described comprising a guard including spaced insulators, a. feed conductor supported in the insulators and extending between the latter, a flexible conducting rail adapted to be elevated by engagement with the contact shoe of a railway car, spaced contact members carried by the rail adapted to engage and electrically connect with the feed conductor and normally maintained in inoperative position by its own weight, and guard carried means arranged to normally support the contact members in position below the feed conductor.

2. A device of the character described, comprising a guard housing formed of an insulated material, a conductor strip within said guard housing and co-extensive therewith, and having portions of the same exposed in recesses spaced along one face of said 'uard housing, flexible rail sections disposed in end to end relation one insulated from the other and extending along the recessed face of said guard housing, and contact strips carried by said rail sections and projecting into said recesses, and adapted to be forced into contact with the complemental exposed face portion of said conductor strip, when said rail sections are flexed by the contact shoe of a passing car, whereby one rail section is energized at a time.

3. A device of the character described comprising a guard housing formed from an insulated material and having spaced re cesses opening through the under race thereor, a conductor strip within said guard housing and having portions thereof exposed in adapted to be forced into contact with the complemental portions of said conductor strips, when said rail sections are flexed by the contact shoe of passing cars, whereby one rail section is energized at a time.

In testimony whereof I afin; my signature 1 hereto.

ARNE KRISTIAN HIIBERG BJORGE. 

